Augusta family searches for justice on 2-year anniversary of deadly hit-and-run

Donovan Brown was killed two years ago in a hit-and-run. (WRDW-TV / Oct. 16, 2012)

News 12 First at Five / Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- It has been two years since a 9-year-old boy was hit and killed. Who was driving the car in the fatal accident is still a mystery.

Donovan Brown was walking home from a popular haunted house on Travis Road near James Drive when the vehicle hit him on Oct. 16, 2010.

Juanita Reece can't believe it's been two years since her son was killed.

"It's tough, but it's better than last year," she said. "It feels like yesterday, and I'm still in the medical field now. When there's certain things that I see, certain things that I hear, brings it back, but yeah -- it's still kind of fresh."

Donovan was walking with his brother and a friend home from the Plantation Blood haunted house when he was hit by a passing vehicle. The driver paused, then sped away.

"Sometimes it brings anger, and then other times, it's just unsettling because my thought is, if they did it with one child, could they do it with somebody else?" Reece said.

Reece says Donovan loved the color green.

"It means peace, prosperity, praise, new movement, and that's what Donovan was about," she said.

The family held a vigil last year on the one-year anniversary of his death.

"He was very articulate, very smart," Reece said. "He would just pop in the room and everything would change, no matter how sad someone would be."

A vague vehicle description and little evidence at the scene has made the investigation a tough one for law enforcement.

"Just think about how you would feel if it was your child, how you would feel if you had no closure?" Reece said.

Complaints about the haunted house have continued for past two years -- everything from the traffic, to the noise, to the parking.

"Yeah, I can understand why the neighbors are now upset. If this was anybody's child, I would stand with them, too. I want the kids in that area to be safe," Reece said.

And on this anniversary, she's praying someone comes forward.

"We just want closure, as would any family would," she said.

Investigators say they've had a couple of leads in the past two years, but nothing has panned out. Reece says Donovan wanted to be an archeologist or a geologist.

If you have any information about that night give law enforcement a call at (706) 821-1000.

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